posted July 18, 2008 at 17:53 in MLB Betting Trends

The two teams who are battling it out for supremacy in the National League West will lock horns on Saturday night in the desert as the Los Angeles Dodgers (46-49 through Thursday) take on the Arizona Diamondbacks (47-48) in the second game of a pivotal three-game series that is set to get underway at 8:10 PM ET at Chase Field (natural turf) in Phoenix.

The teams put forward two of their best on Saturday, as Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers (9-8, 3.24 ERA) goes against Dan Haren (8-5, 2.72 ERA) of the A's.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this online wagering matchup:

* LA has lost four of its last six games
* LA has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* LA has played 14 of its last 21 games UNDER the total
* LA has won five of its last six road games
* ARIZ has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* ARIZ has played 14 of its last 21 games UNDER the total
* ARIZ has lost four of its last six home games
* ARIZ has played four of its last five home games UNDER the total
* ARIZ has won four of the last five meetings
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* ARIZ has won five if the last six meetings in Phoenix

Arizona, which got off to a 19-7 start, unexpectedly stumbled along the way and all of a sudden turned a cakewalk in the National League West into a catfight. The Dodgers haven't played particularly well, and though some people will talk about how Joe Torre's "winning habits" have rubbed off on this team, the truth is that this team, which is only 25-24 at Chavez Ravine, have basically backed into this race.

The good news for the D-Backs is that they have a 21-10 record within the division, including a 13-7 mark at home, and they play the bulk of their games the rest of the way against their rather weak NL West rivals. The Dodgers are keeping their heads above water (15-14) against the rest of the division. After dropping three out of four against Florida going into the All-Star break, the Dodgers are not in great form, but whoever gets the best of this three-game set will come out with the upper hand in the division.

If Chad Billingsley is not the Dodgers' best starting pitcher, he's a contender for it. Billingsley has held the opposition to one earned run or less on ten different occasions this season. One of those occasions was his last start, when he struck out 13 over seven innings in a 9-1 win over the Marlins. Eight of Billingsley's last 11 starts have gone under the total. On April 24 he was reached for six hits and five runs in six innings against Arizona, but he struck out 12 batters.

Dan Haren is third in the National League in ERA, and is tied with Tim Lincecum for the lead in quality starts with 16. Ten of his last 14 starts have gone under the total, and he has been especially hot lately, with a 1.00 ERA in his last five outings, and has surrendered just 21 hits in his last 36 innings. In his last outing he gave up only three hits and a single earned run to Washington in an eight-inning stint, where the D-Backs won a 7-5 decision.

Arizona is not a team that is especially explosive, but the offensive woes have mostly taken place on the road, where they have been awful at making contact. At Chase Field, they;re actually third in the NL in scoring, as they tally five runs a game. We know they're going to be laying a price, but we are going with Haren and the Diamondbacks here in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: ARIZONA

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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com touches all the bases as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)